EU Reaches Migrant Deal With Turkey

March 18, 2016 14:37 GMT

Migrants and refugees sit on a boat near the village of Kucukkuyu, in western Turkey earlier this month. Hundreds of thousands of migrants have made a similar journey from Turkey, which is struggling to host 2.7 million registered refugees from Syria, plus an unknown number of unregistered refugees.

The European Union and Turkey have finalized a deal aimed at curbing the influx of migrants coming to Europe.

European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted on March 18 that there was "unanimous" agreement between Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and the 28 EU leaders meeting in Brussels.

Davutoglu said it was a "historic day."

"We today realized that Turkey and the EU have the same destiny, the same challenges and the same future," he said.

Under the plan, migrants arriving in Greece will be sent back to Turkey if their asylum claim is rejected. In return, EU countries will resettle thousands of Syrian migrants living in Turkey. For Turkey, the agreement will also bring financial aid and faster EU membership talks.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said the deal would go into effect on March 20, when the first migrants are expected to return from Greece to Turkey.

Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Roivas called the deal a "potential game changer."

For Turkey, the agreement will also bring financial aid and faster EU membership talks.